Anti-social networking

Teenage gossip is nothing new; but the way gossip plays out through social media is.

Amy Leap

Teenage gossip is nothing new; but the way gossip plays out through social media is.

"Gossip is almost a rite of passage for teens and is part of their developmental stage, especially for girls," said Carol Cleary, a Stroudsburg Junior High School guidance counselor.

There is a huge difference between gossip today and when most parents were young. The only thing that still holds true is that gossip requires its subjects to be elsewhere. And because most students have cell phones with Internet connection, the "elsewhere" can be the person sitting in the next seat.

"I might come home from school and call one friend to repeat something and that friend might call someone else to repeat what I said. But it didn't go out to hundreds of kids within seconds," Cleary said.

Stroudsburg High School guidance counselor William Simonovich said he couldn't agree more. "The technology available to kids has opened a whole new realm of communicating socially," he said.

Because of all the different avenues young people have to communicate socially, parents need to be especially vigilant over their children's Internet use, he said.

The Internet is a tool that allows a variety of maturity levels to communicate as a group, and it sometimes becomes a dangerous tool, Simonovich said.

If the student lacks the maturity to know or even consider the ramifications of starting rumors, gossiping or repeating rumors, the end result can be tragic, said Sarah Pardue, a Stroudsburg Junior High School guidance counselor.

What can parents and schools do to protect children from hurtful information posted online by their peers?

Legal steps can be taken when a student is bullied or threatened through social media. And it has made a difference, said Cleary.

Simonovich worries that with evolving electronic communication we are becoming depersonalized. Since new technology allows people to communicate without verbal, face-to-face conversations, we could lose empathy and caring for other people.

"When you don't have to stand face-to-face with the person whose self-esteem was injured because of something posted on Facebook or other social media website, it isn't as personal," he said. "I think it is much easier to say things that will hurt someone's feeling when you aren't actually going to see the reaction of that person."

All three guidance counselors agree that keeping lines of communication open with your child is extremely important.

Sitting down and talking with children about how hurtful it can be when someone says something untrue about them is one way to help children understand, Pardue said.

"It is so important your child has someone to go to that they feel they can talk to. Whether it is the resource officer at school, a guidance counselor or parent, kids need to know they have someone to talk to," she said.